Month: December 2022

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The Allusionist - 166. Fiona part 2

“I don't think that anyone should come away from this conversation not wanting to use the name Fiona. I think this is a beautiful and rich history. It might not be quite the history that you imagined, but I think it's a beautiful history," says writer and performer Harry Josie Giles. She and PhD researcher Moll Heaton-Callaway investigate this complicated name with fascinating history. This is the second half of a pair of episodes about the name Fiona; listen to the first episode before this one! theallusionist.org/fiona1.

Find out more about this episode and get extra information about the topics therein at theallusionist.org/fiona2, where there's also a transcript.

Both Josie and I relied heavily on Sharon Krossa's research into the etymology of Fiona; read it at medievalscotland.org/problem/names/fiona.shtml.

The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, youtube.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, while it still stands. Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show, fortnightly livestreams, special perks at live shows, and best of all the Allusioverse Discord community.

The Allusionist is produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Martin Austwick provided editorial help and the original music. Hear Martin’s own songs via palebirdmusic.com.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Strange News: Black Hole Beams at Earth, Tax Sites Snitch to Meta, and San Francisco Deploys Robots with Explosives

Scientists have spotted a black hole energy beam as bright as 1,000 trillion suns pointed directly at Earth. Major tax-filing websites are secretly sharing income data with Meta. Over in San Francisco, law enforcement is deploying robots armed with explosives. All this and more in this week's Strange News. They don’t want you to read our book.

They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

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CBS News Roundup - World News Roundup: 12/05

The Supreme Court considers a Colorado case pitting free speech against gay rights. NC power station attacked. Donald Trump suggests terminating part of the Constitution. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has today's World News Roundup.

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Headlines From The Times - Has zero-COVID checkmated China’s Xi?

Mainland China is roiled by protests, the size of which have not been seen in a generation. People are calling for an end to the government’s strict “zero-COVID” restrictions. The moment has also brought rare public criticism of its architect, President Xi Jinping. Just months ago, he secured an unprecedented third term, but now is as vulnerable as he’s ever been.

Today, we examine whether the zero-COVID policy could be Xi’s downfall. Read the full transcript here.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times China correspondent Stephanie Yang

More reading:

‘Zero COVID’ is roiling China. But ending the policy may cause a massive health disaster

Protests over China’s strict COVID-19 controls spread across the country

Dreams of a Red Emperor: The relentless rise of Xi Jinping

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The Intelligence from The Economist - The for-sixty-dollar question: a cap on Russian oil

Shippers and insurers of Russian crude are now subject to a $60-per-barrel price cap. That may spark Russian production cuts—or an oil-market realignment that undercuts the cap. Senegal might be out of the World Cup, but a visit to its football-academy machinery reveals why it will continue to create star players. And why it’s harder to get deodorant in Manhattan.

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Start the Week - Returning to the moon

It is fifty years since the last manned-flight to the moon. While the Apollo missions have long been superseded by explorations further afield, the science journalist Oliver Morton insists the moon landings remain strong in our cultural imagination. In his 2019 book, The Moon, he explained how a spherical piece of rock had captured the world’s attention, but then been largely ignored. He tells Tom Sutcliffe how scientists and politicians are now once again turning their focus to our nearest neighbour.

Throughout history the moon has inspired artists, poets, scientists, writers and musicians the world over. The artist Luke Jerram has created an extraordinary replica of the Moon measuring seven metres in diameter, fusing NASA imagery of the lunar surface, moonlight, and sound composition. The Museum of the Moon has been exhibited hundreds of times – both indoors and outdoors – across the world, and Jerram explains how each installation has stimulated different events.

While NASA’s Artemis mission explores sending astronauts back to the Moon as a stepping stone to human exploration to Mars, and celebrity billionaires sell visions of private space travel, Mary-Jane Rubenstein sounds a warning. In Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race she sees comparisons with the destructive effects of the centuries-long history of European colonialism. As problems multiply on Earth she dismisses the offer by wealthy messiahs of an other-worldly salvation for a chosen few.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image: Museum of the Moon by Luke Jerram, Cork Midsummer Festival, UK, 2017

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NBN Book of the Day - Nicholas Morton, “The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East” (Basic Books, 2022)

For centuries, the Crusades have been central to the story of the medieval Near East, but these religious wars are only part of the region’s complex history. As Nicholas Morton reveals in The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East (Basic Books, 2022), during the same era the Near East was utterly remade by another series of wars: the Mongol invasions. In a single generation, the Mongols conquered vast swaths of the Near East and upended the region’s geopolitics. Amid the chaos of the Mongol onslaught, long-standing powers such as the Byzantines, the Seljuk Turks, and the crusaders struggled to survive, while new players such as the Ottomans arose to fight back. The Mongol conquests forever transformed the region, while forging closer ties among societies spread across Eurasia. The Mongol Storm is the definitive history of the Mongol assault on the Near East and its enduring global consequences.

Maggie Freeman is a PhD student in the School of Architecture at MIT. She researches uses of architecture by nomadic peoples and historical interactions of nomads and empires, with a focus on the modern Middle East.

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The Best One Yet - ⌚ “Rolex or Folex?” — Rolex’s used Rolexes. The B-21 Bomber’s anti-war plane. Netflix’s preview club.

Rolex is launching its own certified pre-owned Rolex business because the trend is your friend. Northrop Grumman just unveiled the most expensive bomber plane in history, but it may end up being the cheapest, if you think about it. And feedback is a gift, so Netflix is expanding its not-so-secret Preview Club (no, we didn’t get invited either).  $MOV $NFLX $AMZN $NOC Follow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypod And now watch us on Youtube Want a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form Got the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that too Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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The Daily Detail - The Daily Detail for 12.5.22

Alabama

  • Congressman Carl about investigations in House in 2023
  • Dothan crime crackdown results in firearms and drugs seized
  • Madison County sheriff's seeks help in finding male teen runaway
  • Montgomery man given 60 years in prison for running prostitution ring
  • Former president of University of Southern Alabama dies at age 70

National

  • GOP congressmen seek stop to Covid vaccine mandate among military
  • Lawsuit against Big Tech reveals FBI had large hand in censoring content
  • President of Nigeria says US weapons coming into country via Ukraine
  • Power outage in NC launches criminal investigation
  • GA sheepdog survives attack by coyotes, takes out 8 by himself